Theater: Plymouth dancer brings 'Phantom of the Opera' home

Dana Barbuto The Patriot Ledger

Wednesday

Mar 20, 2019 at 5:29 AMMar 20, 2019 at 9:15 PM

South Shore dancer Charlotte Hovey made her debut on a big-city stage at age 8, when she was cast as young mouse in Boston Ballet’s “The Nutcracker.” Sixteen years later, Hovey is dancing on the biggest stages in North America in her “dream show” – the national tour of “The Phantom of the Opera.”

Hovey, 24, is part of the corps de ballet for the long-running musical, which runs March 21-31 at the Providence Performing Arts Center. She’ll be dancing for audiences in Honolulu, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York and Toronto. But the Providence run is her homecoming, especially March 27 when 73 of her friends and family will be in attendance.

The second oldest of 11 siblings, Hovey is the daughter of Donna and Thom Hovey. She grew up in Duxbury and Plymouth and trained in ballet at the former Boston Ballet School in Norwell and the South Shore Ballet Theatre in Hanover.

She caught the dancing bug early. “I always wanted to be a ballerina,” she said. “My parents put me in dance at age 5 and I never stopped. I never had a moment that I wanted to do something else.”

As a child Hovey performed in three Boston Ballet “Nutcrackers” as a mouse, party boy (in a wig) and party girl.

She also danced with the troupe as a demi-soloist bug in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

At South Shore Ballet Theatre, Hovey scored lead roles dancing as Cinderella, the Red Queen in “Alice in Wonderland,” Sugar Plum Fairy in “The Nutcracker” and the title part in the comic-ballet “Coppelia.”

From 2015 to 2016, Hovey began her shift into musical theater. She spent a year at Plymouth’s Priscilla Beach Theater, once a training ground for Paul Newman, Albert Brooks and Rob Reiner. During that time, Hovey performed “A Chorus Line,” “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” and “Fiddler on the Roof.”

“Priscilla Beach gave me my first real taste of professional theater,” Hovey said. The next year, she moved to New York City, where she “auditioned for pretty much everything.” After a pair of tryouts for “Phantom,” she was cast after a third callback. She joined the tour in October in Houston.

Her mom and dad each came out to see four performances. “They both always cry,” Hovey said, laughing. “They’ve always been such an amazing support to me.”

Hovey said she’s always wanted to be in “Phantom” because it is the perfect mix of ballet and musical theater. “All my loves are merged in this show.”

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical is based on Gaston Leroux’ 1910 novel about a grotesquely deformed composer who lives secretly beneath the stage of the Paris Opera. He falls in love with a young soprano whom he determines to turn into a great star. Hovey is part of an ensemble that portrays young ballet dancers. In addition to “full-out singing and dancing,” the corps are on pointe for all of Act One. And Hovey does this eight times a week. It takes a toll on her toes.

“They get swollen by the end of the week. There’s a lot of warm foot soaks with Epsom salts and ice baths,” she said.

Hovey said her favorite part of the performance occurs during the overture, when the ballerinas are featured. “We make all these iconic poses inspired by the artist Degas, who painted all these ballerina portraits. We’re behind the scrim and it’s all in slow motion to a montage of ‘Phantom’ music. It’s just beautiful.”

The musical was first performed in 1986 at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London. It opened at the Majestic Theatre in New York two years later. In 2006, “Phantom” passed “Cats” to become the longest-running Broadway musical. The show has won more than 50 major theater awards, including seven Tonys. “Phantom” is Hovey’s first national tour, and she said she has no plans other than to “enjoy the ride.”

“I just want to keep performing, she said, pausing before adding, “and if it happens to be on Broadway, then that’s cool.”

Dana Barbuto may be reached at dbarbuto@patriotledger.com or follow her on Twitter @dbarbuto_Ledger.